Analyst weighs in on why Penn State's conference matchup vs Ryan Day's Ohio State is a must-win for HC James Franklin 

Last season, the Ohio State Buckeyes emerged as the national champions. However, the Big Ten title game was a showdown between the Penn State Nittany Lions and conference newcomers, the Oregon Ducks. In the end, Dan Lanning's team secured the victory with a 45-37 final score.

On Monday, college football analyst Joel Klatt discussed the importance of the Ohio State versus Penn State showdown. He said that this season, coach James Franklin has to prove himself as a threat in the Big Ten by defeating a Buckeyes team that has a new roster in place.

"Likely another top-five matchup," Klatt said on his eponymous show. "Another opportunity for James Franklin and Penn State to get a marquee win. If they don't get it against Oregon, there's going to be a ton of pressure on them in this matchup to get it against Ohio State.

"In particular, a year where Ohio State is breaking in a new quarterback, breaking in two new coordinators. It's like, if you don't beat this version of Ohio State, don't you expect Ryan Day to continue to reload and build something that might be even better in the future," he added.

(Timestamp- 23:25)

Unlike Ryan Day's team, Penn State has several key players returning for the 2025 season. This includes quarterback Drew Allar, running back Nick Singleton, and nine more offensive players. Franklin also has five defensive players returning for another season after they finished with a 13-3 record and a playoff semifinal appearance last year.

Since taking over the program in 2014, James Franklin has faced the Buckeyes 11 times. He's just one once during the 2016 season, while Ryan Day's team enjoys an eight-game winning streak.

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CFB analyst makes case for Ohio State to emerge as back-to-back national champions

Last season was Ryan Day's first natty with the Buckeyes since taking over in 2019. On Thursday, college football analyst J.D. Pickell made an appearance on the "Crain & Company" show.

During the interview, Pickell shared his thoughts on Ryan Day and his team emerging as back-to-back national champions this year:

"To what I'm looking for in terms of cause and effect for Ohio State repeating next year. Quite frankly, you mentioned if they bracket Jeremiah Smith, well, who does that fall on then to go the right place with the football and find a Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, Max Klare, it's got to be Julian Sayin, not just being conversational in offense, he's got to be fluent when speaking the offense.

"And no, okay, Jeremiah Smith is taken away. Boom, we're to Carnell Tate, boom, we're to Max Klare in the middle of the field. If you can actually maximize all the talent that they have on that offense, who's stopping Ohio State?" he added.

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The Buckeyes begin their 2025 campaign with a showdown against Texas in September. It will be interesting to see if they can go on to repeat as national champions with a new, revamped roster in place.